Hair curler



April 15 1924. 1,490,570

A. KRETSCHAN HAIR cuRLsR Filed June-29 1922 Patented Apr. 15, 1924.

niirso srATEs ANTON KRETSCHAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HAIR CURLER.

Application filed June 29, 1922. Serial No. 571,656.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTON KmnscHAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Hair Curlers, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part or this specification.

My invention relates to hair curlers, having general reference to that type of hair curling device which is adapted to be applied to the hair and to be left thereon a sufficient length of time to form a wave or curl without the application of heat.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide the curler with novel and efficient means for securely grasping the ends of the strands of hair. This improved means is capable of grasping single strands or comparatively thin bunches of the hair, so that irrespective of whether a few strands or a large number of strands are placed in the curler, the ends will be securely held therein. This is of particular advantage in connection with bobbed hair. The majority of prior curlers are inconvenient to use on bobbed hair because of the inability to grasp the ends of the strands of hair preliminary to winding on the curler, these curlers generally requiring that the strands be held on the curler by the fingers in starting the strands. This is an awkward and diflicult task in the case of short hair, particularly of bobbed hair, where the strands are generally so short that they make only a couple of turns on the curler, and where their shortness prevents the user from seeing how to hold the ends to the curler.

A further advantage residing in the present means for grasping the ends of the st ends, is the ability to uniformly distribute the strands of hair along the curler and to then fasten them to the curler in such arrangement before beginning the winding of the strands. In numerous prior curlers, the hair must be bunched into a lock for winding on the curler, whereby the hair is curled in a lock rather than in individual strands as in the present case.

A further object of the invention is to provide a curler which will liefiat against the head, and which will be so small in its projecting dimension as not to cause any discomfort to the wearer when. sleeping.

Devices of the above class must be of inexpensive manufacture to retail at the low prices resulting from competition, and it is a further object of my invention in this regard to construct my improved curler largely of wire, so that its manufacturing cost will be as low as possible.

Another object is to provide an improved curler which will be devoid of projections or catches on the ends of the curling members so that the hair can he slipped off the curler instantly without entangling or catching the hair on such projections.

Other objects will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

F ignre 1 is an enlarged perspective View of a preferred embodiment of my improved curler Figure 2 is an elevational view of the curler with the hair applied thereto;

Fig. 3 is an edge view of the curler;

'Fig. 4- is a detailed sectional view of the rotatable cap;

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the clamping ring.

Fig. 6 is an edge view of a modified construction; and

Fig. 7 is a bottom plan view of the above.

The ends of the strands are securely grasped between two'clamping or gripping members 7 and 8 which are pivoted together on a pivot pin 9. The member 8 is constructed from a length of resilient wire, and the member 7 is preferably of channel formation to embrace a considerable portion of the cylindrical. wire 8. This channel formation of the member 7 is not essential, but is preferable for the reason that it extends the area of gripping engagement around the greater portion of the wire 8, and thus increases the firmness with which the ends of the strands 10 can be clamped between the members. The member 7 can be constructed as a sheet metal stamping in an obvious manner.

The'free ends'of the members 7 and 8 are iii) members 7 and 8 to press the wire 8 into the channel member 7 and hold it therein against the strands of hair.

The two members 7 and 8 are pivoted to swing into or out of a wire frame 14. This frame consists of a section of wire bent into an oblong figure having parallel side portions and inturned end portions 16 which have pivotal connection with the clamping members 7 and 8. The inturned ends 16 of the frame are looped to form eyes 17 through which is passed the pivot pin 9. The ends of the pivot pin 9 are preferably headed over on the outside of the eyes 17. The sides of the channel members 7 are provided with punched apertures for receiving the pivot pin 9, and the other wire clamping member 8 is preferably looped at its lower end similar to the loop 17, for mounting the same on the pivot pin 9.

The upper end of the frame 14 is formed with a loop 18, which is of generally circular form and is disposed in the plane of the frame 14. The proportions are such that when the two clamping members 7 and 8 are secured together by the ring 11 and are swung up into the frame, the ends of the clamping members will be disposed directly within the loop 18. A rotatable cap 19 is crimped over the loop 18 for confining the clamping members 7 and 8 within the loop. This cap 19 is preferably a sheet metal stamping of generally spherical form, having a slot 21 in one side thereof. The operation of crimping this cap over the loop 18 retains the cap thereon against endwise removal, but permits free rotation of the cap. To receive the clamping members 7 and 8, the cap 19 is rotated to turn the slot 21 into position for receiving the clamping members within the loop 18. By a fractional turn of the cap 19, the slot 21 is moved out of the plane of movement of the members 7 and 8 and the latter are thereby securely held in the frame. The loop 18 extends up into the top of the cap 19 sufiiciently above the top of the slot 21 to prevent the cap from slipping laterally ofi' the loop when the slot 21 is rotated into the plane of the loop.

In use, the ends of successive strands of hair are distributed between the clamping members 7 and 8, as illustrated fragmentarily in Fig. 1. The two clamping members 7 and 8 are now pressed together over the tip ends of these strands and are secured together by forcing the ring 11 down over the clamping members. The device is then rotated in its entirety, preferably with the frame 14 in prolongation of the clamping members 7 and 8, so as to wind the strands around the connected clamping members 7 and 8 as illustrated in Fig. 2. Because ofthe fact that the ends of the strands are firmly secured between the clamping members, this operation of winding the strands can be accomplished with facility because there is no necessity of holding the ends of the strands 011 the curler. After the strands have been wound upon the curler to the desired length, the frame 14 is revolved to engage over the hair and the clamping members and the latter are socured in the looped portion 18 by the rotation of the locking cap 19. It will be noted that the frame 14 can be swung to engage over the clamping members 7 and 8 from either side, the slot 21 in the cap 19 being rotatable to either side of the frame for receiving the clamping members. The device lies flat against the head and its projecting dimension is so small that there is no possibility of its causing discomfort to the wearer when sleeping. Similarly, the total absence f any points, prongs or other projections avoid any discomfort from this source.

It will be understood that the frame 14 prevents the strands from unwinding off the clamping members 7 and 8. hen the curler is to be removed the frame is swung away from the clamping members, and upon the removal of the ring 11 the clamping members can be spread slightly and withdrawn straight out from the end of the wave with out entangling or mussing the wave. The free ends of the clamping or curling members are preferably beveled as indicated at 24, to facilitate the forcing of the ring 11 over these members.

An alternative construction is illustrated in Figures 6 and 7, wherein half-round wire is employed in the construction of the frame, with the flat side facing inwardly. This facilitates the formation of the pivotal connection between the curling members and frame by obviating the necessity of looping the ends of the wire frame. The pivotal ends 25 are merely punched out to receive the pivot pin 9 and the flat inner sides thereof form more effective guide means or bearing surfaces. Similarly, instead of looping the end of the wire curling member 8 it may be flattened, as indicated at 26, having a punched aperture provided therein for receiving the pivot pin.

Instead of constructing the device entirely of metal it will be obvious that all or certain parts thereof can be constructed of celluloid, bone, or any other preferred material.

I claim:

1. In a hair curler, the combination of a pair of relatively movable curling members pivotally connected together adjacent their ends, said curling members being adapted for engaging the hair therebetween, a frame member pivotally connected to said curling members at their pivoted ends, and means on the other end of said frame for supporting a rotatable cap, said cap having an opening therein adapted to receive the free end of one of said curling members, said cap op erating to lock said curlin member to said frame by rotation of said cap.

2. In a hair curler, the combination of a pair of curling members, one of said members being adapted to partially embrace the other of said members for grasping the ends of the strands therebetween, a pivotal member movable into and out of position alongside or said curling members for confining the hair on said members, and means movable relative to said pivotal member for locking said pivotal member and said curling members together.

3. In a hair curler, the combination of a pair of curling members, one of said members being of channel section for partially embracing the other member, a frame member pivotally connected to said. curling members and adapted for connection to the free ends of said members, and a locking member movably supported on the upper end of said frame member for locking all of said members together.

l. In a hair curler, the combination of a first curling member of channel section, a second curling member constructed of a length of Wire adapted to engage in said channel shaped curling member, said curling members being pivoted together at their ends, a Wire frame pivotally connected to said curling members at their pivoted ends, and means movably supported on said frame for releasably securing the free ends of said curling members to said frame.

5. In a hair curler, the combination of a first curling member of channel section, a second curling member constructed of a length of Wire adapted to engage in the channel section of said first curling member, said curling members being pivoted together at their ends, the free ends of said curling members being substantially straight, ring means for connecting said curling members together, a wire frame pivotally connected to the pivoted ends of said curling members, a loop on the other end of said frame for re ceiving the free ends of said curling members, and means associated with said loop for releasably holding said curling members in said loop.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 27th day of June, 1922.

ANTON KRETS CHAN. 

